7 replies to this topic

[age7875]

I have been using Runkeeper for nearly one year now. It is a fantastic product (not too mention free too). It has been good to be able to analyze runs in detail once completed and also to get regular updates while running in regards to distance, time and pace.

I'm considering purchasing a Garmin 610, however want to ensure it is the right decision before parting with $499.

As I see it;

Advantages of Garmin 610

-no need to carry a bulky phone (in saying this my SPI belt is good for stashing the phone)
-can check pace, time, km, etc whenever you like by looking at the watch
-can get heart rate information (not seamless with Runkeeper)
-ability to get more information (e.g. Laps, virtual pacer etc)
-more accurate (I have read this a lot, but I have been reasonably happy with the level of accuracy of Runkeeper)
-battery life

Advantages of Runkeeper

-voice prompts for time, pace etc.
-built in music
-phone for emergencies
-live tracking for safety (or other reasons)
-access to maps if you get lost (has happened before in non familiar cities!)


Interested in anyone's thoughts. Has anyone recently upgraded from Runkeeper to a Garmin?

Edited by age7875, 28 July 2011 - 12:05 PM.

[adr1an]

If you have the money - Garmin.

I used runkeeper when I started running this year and then upgraded to a Garmin 310xt. Love it.

[meinmuk]

I haven't been running all that long and have a Garmin. I have used the pace readout function to help with pacing my runs and have enjoyed being able to get an instant readouts of my pace, time and distance. I do wonder if they are becoming a bit of a crutch. I have really enjoyed the times when I've run without the Garmin (or kept it in my bum-bag) I also like being able to record my times, distances and splits in my training log. I have found the ability to record these features somewhat motivating on cold, dark mornings.

I use the HRM for some recovery runs to make sure I don't get too excited. Other than that it hasn't yet been enything more than a toy. Maybe a training jedi will follow and explain why an HRM is useful for training...

[mutk]

age7875, on 28 July 2011 - 12:04 PM, said:

-access to maps if you get lost (has happened before in non familiar cities!)


Interested in anyone's thoughts. Has anyone recently upgraded from Runkeeper to a Garmin?

I used a variation of RUnKeeper, some other app, available for Android. Bought FR405 over two years ago, prefer it to any smart phone facility.

- Carry phone anyway, but GPS is off, and its almost completely idle. Saves Battery life
- FR405 has a facility to mark where you started, and can guide you back to where you started. So maps on a smart phone become less important.

Watch is brilliant, easier to use, less bulky.

Cheers

[Kaos]

funnily enough I've just written a blog post about this. It isn't public yet but I'll try to remember to post here once ready.

I ran with RunKeeper for a long time. Long enough for it to become riddled with bugs, suffer from not having my runs recorded and finally it now seems ok. In the meantime I bought a Garmin 610. I used to take RK out about 60% of the time, but I pretty much wear the watch for every run.

Having instant feedback about pace etc is really worthwhile, sometimes you can be going too fast without realising, and rk can't give you instant feedback. Accuracy is pretty good with the current version, but if you run with others, they will always believe the guy with the Garmin before you with RK......

I had a run with my wife where RK exactly matched the Garmin, but only once. All other tests have been pretty close. I love that RK can post your runs to Facebook, it takes extra effort to do this with a Garmin.

RunKeeper is pretty hard to beat for free (I paid for it!) but I really think the $500 I paid for the Garmin is money well spent.

Adam

[zakka]

I used runkeeper for over 1 year and a half, and it was perfectly fine for me. Sometimes it took ages to connect and sometimes it didnt connect at all so i just ran a time and went back and manually input the course on my runkeeper account afterwards, which was a pain sometimes but i needed it! in saying that, RK is definitely a great app for new runners to get some motivation!

i recently just bought a secondhand 305 forerunner for 100$ and i have to say my workouts have been a whole lot better to enjoy without having to worry about a stupid iphone on my arm. the instant pace readout and HRM are perfect for what I am training for ( the melbourne marathon ) and overall the connect time is much more quicker.
and also having the wrist watch and not the iphone on a band is much better to deal with on the longer runs and doesnt annoy me that much at all.
In saying that, i still use runkeeper for its online profile as i had over 150 activities saved on there from using the Rk app on my iphone, so a plus for having a garmin would be that the ability to import the garmin workouts is a major major plus for current Rk users to keep up to date with their personal fitness.

as adam has said, Rk is hard to beat when its free, but when i only spent 100$ on a garmin that works perfectly fine and has a HRM with it, i think i'd take the garmin any day.

Isaac

[age7875]

Thanks for all the feedback and advice. I think I will upgrade to the Garmin.

[age7875]

Finally made the upgrade to a Garmin 610.

Took it on my first run today. Initial thoughts;

-WOW! Can't believe I waited so long before getting a Garmin
-Much easier to use, hit one button and your off (not hitting go and trying to stash the phone while you are starting your run)
-No stressing about the phone turning off mid run or unlocking it and trying to pause it at traffic lights
-Really good to be able to glance at the watch and see your time, pace, and km in an instance
-Two bits of data that Runkeeper doesn't have that I found very useful were lap pace (the average pace of the km you are in) and at the end of every km it gives you your last lap time
-Much more accurate. The overall km were not that much different but when you look at the path on Google maps the Garmin is much more accurate. This would result in more accurate splits.
-Runkeeper served me very well for nearly 2,000km and was very good for free, but the upgrade to the Garmin is money very well spent IMHO